Ecological Collapse of Past Civilizations - Research Paper Example

“Ecological Collapse of Past Civilizations” Introduction Historians always emphasize that people should relyon historical studies since they give them an opportunity to learn from past errors of human beings. Jared Diamond in his article “Ecological Collapses of Past Civilizations” asserts that even recently, it seems that people are unable to learn from the past errors to come up with a means of avoiding environmental predicaments which all societies are facing (Diamond 363). He further warns that there is a great risk of humanity continuing to damage the environment in the coming decades to a point in which the environment will be incompatible with their existence. This risk has been existing in the human history, resulting in the current destructive modern technology, which is contributing a lot towards environmental pollution. It is widely believed that pre-industrial societies respected and preserved nature, lived with their environment in a harmonious manner, and were wise when it came to the consumption of natural resources. However, Diamond points out that there is a large number of pre-industrial societies that did collapse. He defines “society collapse” as a local radical decrease of the number of human populations and economic, political, and social complexity (363). He further states that collapse can result in a certain human population disappearing completely over a wide area. Some of the victims of past civilizations listed in this article include: Great Zimbabwe, Greenland Norse, Anasazi, Angkor Wat, Classic Lowland Maya, Mycenaean Greece, and Easter Island among many others. Human beings should have learned from the collapse of these societies and work tirelessly to find appropriate solutions to the current environmental difficulties. Diamond notes that the recent devastating evidence from archaeological and other disciplines demonstrates that some of the past collapses actually stemmed from ecological disasters that are similar to the current ecological suicide that human beings are risking to commit nowadays. Even though the past societies were made up of smaller populations with less destructive technology compared to the ones we possess nowadays, the pre-industrial ecological suicides unfolded resulting in collapsing of some societies. This indicates that things will become worse if we continue participating in modern activities that cause a lot of harm to the environment. People can really learn from these past happenings. However, the problem seems to be very complicated. This is a problem that requires critical thinking to come up with an ideal solution for this ecological problem. Ecological collapse is a very complicated problem. There was no guarantee that all past societies were to collapse. There are some societies that have existed for many years with no signs of collapsing such as Tonga, Tikopia, Japan, and Java. Was this happening because some environments were ecologically robust with others being ecologically fragile, and whether the societies that collapsed were living in the fragile ecologies? Secondly, the environment can deteriorate not only because of the impacts of human activities, but also because of climate changes like cooling, El Nino event, and drought. It is not easy to explain between internal and external environmental change. The third complication comes from the fact that some societies depend on others for survival through trade. Is there a possibility of the societies residing in robust environments being affected by collapsing of other societies in fragile lands whom they socialize with for trade activities? Finally, human beings are not just carelessly destroying the environments they dwell in. It is evident that most of traditional society were very devoted when it came to matters of using natural resources and environments than most of the current society (364). Human beings are able to look around, notice a problem, and they also have the capability of planning and solving complex problems, as well as being able to act following their own interests. Why then do people notice the looming environmental disaster and take necessary precautions to avert these disasters. Sometimes human beings take actions that successfully prevent environmental deterioration such as reforestation, terracing, and agricultural intensification. The big question is, why did people fail sometimes? Does it mean that some societies respond to the environmental disasters than others? Diamond has suggested some solutions that can eradicate the mentioned environmental predicaments. Human beings tend to believe that the problem at hand is so monumental that they can contribute nothing when it comes to solving it. However, there are many cost effective and simple things that human beings can carry out to end environmental problems. First people can vote. The candidates we elect to feel political seats have different views about environmental well-being. People can therefore vote for candidates whose views can help, such as environmental movements and population policies. Political leaders whose views will aid in fixing the local environment. Secondly, people can contribute money. Most of environmental organizations collapse due to lack of enough funds, and therefore, a small contribution can bring a very big significant change. But the best solution to environmental problems is the use of media. The media helps people understand the ecological collapses, taking place in other parts of the globe and their consequences. We are completely different from the past generations. For instance, Anasazi and Easter Islanders were not aware of the other societies that were collapsing and the number of collapses that had already taken place. In contrast, the modern societies know the environmental conditions in other parts of the planet through social media, books, television, radio, movies, and other types of media. For instance, most of us have seen footages of the current situation in Somalia and therefore, it is our duty to learn from these witnessed conditions and come up with effective solutions to environmental problems. Discussed below are some of the other articles that have also raised concern about the same issue of ecological collapse. "Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided?" By Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. The content of this article compliments the thesis of Diamond in his article “Ecological Collapses of Past Civilizations” The authors support the view of Diamond by asserting that environmental predicaments have contributed to many civilizations collapses in the past. Similarly, they point that there is likeliness of global collapse if we fail to find a solution to this phenomenon. Over consumption of natural resources, overpopulation, and poor choice of the current technologies are the key drivers to environmental problems nowadays (Ehrlich and Anne 4). As Diamond suggests that voting, contributing, and the media can help in ending environmental problems, the authors of this article also argue that dramatic cultural change is the only hope of averting environmental calamity. The authors point out that virtually all past civilizations have gone through collapse, the loss of economic-political-social complexity that is accompanied by decrease in size of population. This argument compliments that of Diamond when he defines “society collapse” as a local radical decrease of the number of human populations and economic, political, and social complexity (363). They give examples of some societies that have undergone collapse such as China and Egypt that have recovered and Classic Maya and Easter Island that had permanently collapsed. However, in most cases, civilization collapse was not caused by environmental overexploitation. But nowadays, humanity’s global civilization is likely to face collapses due to current environmental problems stemming from factors such as overpopulation, poor technology choices, and overconsumption of natural resources. Just like Diamond, the authors of this article think that global society is able to avoid collapse (6). They support this statement by emphasizing that if people today have shown some capability of dealing with critical threats such as nuclear conflict, they can also come up with sound solutions to avoid collapses. “How civilizations fall” by Greer, John Michael. Similarly, the content of this article supports the opinions of Jerad Diamond in his article “Ecological Collapse of Past Civilizations”. Greer points out that the collapse of civilizations remains poorly understood by many people and today’s theories have failed to model essential aspects of past examples of collapse. According to him, the relationships between waste, production, and resources form the foundation of ecological collapse in which manufacturers fail to take care of our environments. The model used in these articles shows how the activities of the current societies contribute towards the increment of environmental problems. Greer’s argument towards prevention and avoidance of societal collapse compliments those suggested by Diamond. He claims that human beings are capable of bringing change, a capacity that many species lack, and therefore, the same human beings can notice the looming environmental disaster and take necessary precautions to avert these disasters (Greer 5). Greer further states that assessment of both present and past societies in order to acquire higher analytical value that will help in coming up with the most appropriate solution to civilian collapses. Such assessment requires very careful quantitative analysis otherwise the same problem will continue to be a calamity even in future. The author noted that most explanations of civilization collapse have failed to describe the real cause of these collapses. He further affirms that in many societies, the socio-economic-political complexity that remained after the disintegration of the empires was below the level that existed in the empires before their collapse (7). For instance, Britain during the pre-Roman Iron era had formed a flourishing and stable agricultural society with developed cities and global trade connections, but the same country remained politically chaotic, depopulated, and impoverished for many years after the collapse of its imperial authority. Conclusion To sum it up, the above reviewed three articles raise almost similar views about ecological collapse of past societies. The articles emphasize that there is likeliness of civilization collapse continuing in the next centuries if we do not change the mode in which we consume natural resources and our choices of technology. There is the need of changing the current choices of technology and consumption of natural resources since they are the key drivers to environmental problems that result in civilization collapsing. It will be necessary for people to learn from the past errors for them to come up with a means of avoiding environments predicaments which all societies are facing. Works cited Diamond, Jared. "Ecological collapses of past civilizations." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1994): 363-370. Ehrlich, Paul R., and Anne H. Ehrlich. "Can a collapse of global civilization be avoided?" Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 280.1754 (2013): 20122845. Greer, John Michael. How civilizations fall: A theory of catabolic collapse. WTV, 2005. Read More